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About Germany

     Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland (help·info), IPA: [ˈbundəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant]), is a country in West-central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

     Germany is a parliamentary federal republic of sixteen states (Bundesländer). The capital city and seat of government is Berlin. As a nation-state, the country was unified near the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. After World War II, Germany's government was re-formed, its territory was divided into two separate states along the lines of allied occupation in 1949 and then was reunified in 1990. Germany is a founding member of the European Union, and with over 82 million people it has the largest population among the EU member states.

     The Federal Republic of Germany is a modern great power, a member state of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G4 nations and, as of 2006, ranked sixth in military expenditure. Germany is the world's third largest economy by nominal GDP, the world's largest exporter of goods, and the world's second largest importer of goods. In 2007 it held the rotating presidencies of both the European Council and the G8 summits.

About Borkum

     Borkum is an island and a municipality in the Leer District in Lower Saxony, northwestern Germany.

     Borkum is bordered to the west by the Westereems strait (which forms the border with the Netherlands), to the east by the Osterems strait, to the north by the North Sea, and to the south by the Wadden Sea. It is the largest and westernmost of the East Frisian Islands in the North Sea, due north of the Dutch province of Groningen.

     The island was formed by two previously separate islands which were still separated by a shallow water in 1863. The seam between the former eastern and western parts is called Tüskendör ("through in between").

     On 19 and 20 December 1934, Wernher von Braun launched "Max" and "Moritz", the two prototypes of the A2-rocket. Lager Borkum, the Nazi labour camp on Alderney was named after the island.

     A number of former German soldiers of the 216th Marine-Flak-Abeitlung (Naval Flak Battalion) were tried for war crimes by the Dachau International Military Tribunal, from February 6 to March 21, 1946 (US v Kurt Goebell et al). They were charged with the unlawful execution of seven United States Army Air Forces personnel who had survived the crash of their damaged B-17 Flying Fortress on the island on April 8, 1944. (See talk page for list of those tried).